18. Saint
Sage’s whimpers were the first thing I heard when I opened the bedroom door. She was standing in her crib with tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. Her bottom lip was poked out, making her look exactly like her mother.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” I asked, picking her up. She immediately snuggled against my body, laying her head on my shoulder.
“Ma,” She whined as I rubbed her back to soothe her.
“Aight, come on. Let’s find mommy.” I said, placing her on her feet and holding my hand out for her to grab.
We left the room, heading down the hall to the kitchen.
Blessing was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes while Serenity and Journey were seated in the dining room, working on some project for school.
“Mmm. Eat!” Sage squealed excitedly. I chuckled, lifting her into her high chair.
After making sure she was secure in her highchair, I made my way over to Blessing, nuzzling my face into her neck, inhaling her scent.
Even though she was pissed, she still relaxed into my arms. GossipInTheCove had been posting the clips of Mariah on live last night.
That bitch had really lost her fucking mind.
“Mrs. Johnson scheduled a meeting with me tomorrow morning.” Blessing said, turning around to face me. Her eyes were red and glossy, like she’d been crying. Seeing her upset like this made my chest tight.
“Don’t even trip about this shit, Bless.
Everything will work out how it’s supposed to.
I know how much you loved working with her, but if she lets you go, it’s her loss.
At the end of the day, it’s your name that brings her the biggest clients.
You’re at the point in your career where your resume is extensive.
You can open your own shit bae. I told you I got you.
I can get my realtor on the phone right now.
It’s whatever you want. Tell me what I can do to fix this.
” I used my thumbs to wipe the tears that had fallen from her cheeks.
“Don’t even worry about Mariah. Teagan is going to handle her.
She should be receiving the cease-and-desist letter.
If she doesn’t stop, she’ll be sued for deformation of character. ”
“She better hope I don’t run into her. On my daughter, I’m going to beat her ass. She’s doing all this for what? She broke up with you. Then she brought up what happened when you fell. Yeah, she gotta see me.” Blessing said with a nod. I knew she wasn’t playing.
“I’m not even going to stop you. Do your biggest one too. I got bail money.” I slapped her on the ass and kissed her lips before taking a seat at the island.
“Moo!” I heard Sage’s tiny voice scream. We both burst into laughter. Sage recently learned my nickname, and she hasn’t stopped saying it since.
“My bad, princess. I won’t put my lips on your mama again.” I held my hand up in surrender. Blessing walked over, placing her breakfast in front of her, along with her sippy cup of milk. She wasted no time digging in.
“Dang little lady, you sure can put it away.” Journey joked as she and Serenity came to grab their plates of food before heading back into the dining room.
My lady handed me my plate and protein shake, then took a seat next to me.
We spent the rest of the morning under each other until it was time for her to head back to her house.
I had a meeting with my publicist and then a workout scheduled with the team.
I was excited to be back in the gym with them.
“I’m glad you were free to come in and see me today.
I know these past two days have been crazy for you.
But we need to get ahead of the narrative.
Right now, most people are on her side because she’s playing the brokenhearted girl role.
So, what do you think about going on Stats I just hung up and sent a text to my lawyer letting her know about the call. I’ll be damned if that bitch tried to pin a baby on me.
“What’s wrong?” Rome asked as he stepped off the treadmill.
I chewed the corner of my lips, annoyed, “That bitch Mariah just called me talkin’ about she’s pregnant. I ain’t never nutted in that crazy ass girl. She ain’t never even let me fuck her raw. I don’t know what the fuck she has going on, but she needs to leave me and my family out of it.”
“Niggaaa, she trippin. Oh shit! I forgot to tell you. That nigga Adonis got out recently. You know she used to fuck around with him, right? That’s probably why she’s been out in Brindleton Bay. Shit, that’s probably who she’s pregnant by.”
“So why the fuck is she bothering me and my lady?”
He shrugged, “I’m not sure. Shorty ain’t right in the head. Be careful nigga.” He dapped me up before leaving the weight room.
I let out a sigh of relief as soon as I felt the hot water touch my skin. I was finally home after being out all day. I’d stopped by my mom’s house after practice to chill with them for a minute. With everything that was going on around me, I knew seeing my grandmother would make me feel better.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my waist. My phone rang as soon as I walked into my bedroom. I hurried to answer it, seeing it was the private investigator I’d hired to look for information on my father.
“Hello?” I answered, walking into my closet.
“Hey, Saint. I have a small update for you.” Bailey, my private investigator, said.
“Okay, what is it?”
“Initially, remains were discovered in a city about five hours away. During the time your father disappeared, a serial killer was active, targeting truck drivers, and your father might have been among the victims. I will have the detectives involved in the case contact you to collect a DNA sample. Additionally, there’s a John Doe in a Georgia mental hospital who reportedly wandered there by train.
He was delirious and had no memory of his identity or origins.
Authorities believe he fell and permanently lost his memory.
We can set up a paternity test to see if he’s your father. ” She explained.
“Wow.. I uh-“ I stopped and took a moment to process the information she’d just given me. The fact that there was a possibility that my father had been alive this entire time. “Can you give me a few days to talk to my mother about it. Then I’ll get back to you.”
“That’s perfectly fine. I know this is a lot to process. I have a feeling that the man in Georgia is your father. Talk to you soon.” She said before hanging up.
I quickly got dressed before taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
I rubbed a hand down my face as tears formed in my eyes.
It’d been over a decade since I’d seen my father.
I could feel it in my soul that he was alive.
“God, please let the man in Georgia be my father,” I begged, tears streaming down my face.